Stay On Your Side
by GodlivesnLondon
Summary: Luke and Lorelai get in a fight, Sookie has a plan to get them back together that includes them spending a lot of time together...Starts off at That Damn Donna Reed Show
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yeah yeah, I know, I still haven't finished **_**Shes Back But Not For Long. **_**Don't worry your pretty little head, I'll get it updated soon, but right now, I couldn't **_**wait**_** to start this story. I have it all planned out…at least the main story line. Just as pre-warning, JavaJunkie will be the very **_**main**_** pairing in this story. There will be implied Dean/Rory just because it goes along with the story line and the original story line but do not think I'm Dean/Rory fan. No. Okay well now for this story. Yay.**

**Summary: Rachel comes back much sooner, and this time, it's expected. This means chaos for Lorelai who just realized her feelings for Luke, and when Rachel decides to stay, and Luke neglects to tell Lorelai that Rachel is his ex-girlfriend and she has to discover this news from Miss Patty, Lorelai is all but pleased. Refusing to admit she's jealous, Lorelai insists that she has to run to Max…Sookie, however, has a different plan to get this match made in heaven together…finally. **

**Discalimer:**** I do not own Gilmore girls. insert cute quip here**

**Chapter 1**

Lorelai and Rory were on their way to their usual breakfast spot of the morning, for some coffee and...well breakfast.

"Can brains hurt?" Rory asked, as her and Lorelai entered the diner, having their usual fun and light conversation.

"Yes, it's hypochondria hour." Lorelai said as they took their seats at a table near the window.

"No, I'm serious, last night when I was reading my Biology chapters, I distinctly heard a ping in the vicinity of my brain." Rory said reaching a hand up to touch her head.

"Your brain…pinged." Lorelai said, making sure she had heard Rory correctly.

"Yeah. It just went like 'dink'." Rory explained.

"Well then, honey your brain dinked, it didn't ping." Lorelai joked.

"Well I don't think a dinking brain is any less worrisome than a pinging brain." Rory said, sounding kind of worried for own self.

"Well, you got me there." Lorelai said sarcastically.

"So should I go to a tumor doctor?" Rory asked her eyes getting wide in fear.

"No, you don't have a tumor. You're reading too much. You're probably just losing your eyesight." Lorelai joked again, not taking Rory seriously.

"Thank you." Rory said sarcastically.

"Your welcome." Lorelai returned as Luke walked up to their table, "Hey can you take a little constructive critism?" Lorelai directed at Luke.

"No." Luke deadpanned.

"Okay, this place could use a makeover." Lorelai said and smiled at her own suggestion.

"I don't spruce." Luke deadpanned again.

"What do you mean you don't spruce?" Lorelai asked giving Luke an annoyed stare.

"What he means is he won't spruce, that's what he means." Taylor chimed in from the counter.

"Taylor, do not start." Luke warned, not even acknowledging him by turning around.

"Me and the rest of the town beautification committee have been hounding him for years to freshen up the place…maybe a couple of nice zinnia pots out front, some yellow awnings, a peppy little cardboard pig announcing the specials…but he's a mule. He won't talk, he won't reason, he won't spruce. You might as well forget it, Lorelai. I'm forgetting it too." Taylor explained.

"Finally a Taylor Doose position I can get behind." Luke said, silently praying Lorelai wouldn't keep it up, knowing if she did he wouldn't be able to refuse, since he never could.

"Faded paint is a bad reflection on the whole town." Taylor complained still.

"Whatever happened to giving up?" Luke asked, getting more annoyed by every word spoken out of Taylor's mouth.

"When standards slip, families flee and in comes the seedy crowd. You got trouble, my friends." Taylor kept up.

"Right here in River City!" Lorelai joked, trying to lighten Taylor's attack on Luke, after all, it's not like she had been insisting he paint the diner, it was just a thought. If she had known Taylor was going to go at it like this, she wouldn't have even brought it up…or at least she would've waited till when Taylor wasn't around.

"This is not funny, Lorelai." Taylor said, in all seriousness.

"Does anyone want anything?" Luke asked, getting even more annoyed.

"Uh, yes, I do. I want to know why you won't paint this place." Lorelai asked, trying to save Luke from his own misery of having to face Taylor like this again.

"Painting's a pain. I'd have to close the place for a day, which I can't afford, or paint it in the middle of the night, which I don't want to do because I hate painting." Luke complained sighing.

"Okay, how about this? I'll help you. I love to paint." Lorelai said sincerely, and smiled at the thought of getting to spend time with Luke while they painted.

"You do?"

"Yes, I do." Lorelai said, still smiling.

"You love it?" Luke asked, still not convinced, believing she was only doing this to get Luke to agree to paint the diner, then she'd come to the diner to "help" and would end up sitting there watching him paint and end up falling asleep 10 minutes later, causing Luke to feel guilty.

"I want to marry it." Lorelai reassured genuinely.

"You have strange passions." Luke said, finally believing she was telling him the truth.

"She likes washing dishes too. She's mult-faceted abnormal." Rory spoke up, getting tired of having no part in the conversation.

"Ah, come on. We'll drink a couple beers, we'll sing painting songs." Lorelai suggested smiling again at the thought.

"Painting songs?"

"Yeah, painting songs. Like, uh, you know, the song that goes, um..." Lorelai went on to sing her made up song, _"Grab your brush and grab your rollers_

_All you kids and all you...bowlers_

_We're going paintin' today!_" Lorelai stopped singing and took a breath, "Say yes or there's another verse."

"Well I guess maybe...if I had help…" Luke went on to say, he knew he would end up giving in.

"Really? Oh my God! That's wonderful! Hurrah!" Taylor said obviously surprised.

"Taylor, it's not for you. It's for…me." Luke said, restraining himself from saying "Lorelai"

"I can't wait to tell the rest of the committee. They're not going to believe this." Taylor said, excitedly getting up from his stool and making his way out of the diner.

"I hate seeing him pleased." Luke said annoyed as Taylor walked out of the diner.

"Ah, you'll drop a gum wrapper on the street in front of his store later." Lorelai suggested and smiled.

"Yeah, good idea…" Luke said and smiled, the thought of painting with Lorelai during the night crossed his mind again. He couldn't help but smile at the thought. Just him and Lorelai…

**XoXoXoX**

Lorelai was walking home the next day and saw Luke outside of the diner with Doose's market bags, lots of Doose's market bags. _Why does he have all those groceries?_ Lorelai couldn't help but wonder as he struggled to open the door to the diner with his free hand. Lorelai, being the nosey person she was, decided to go help him, not only because the sight was pathetic, but because she wanted to find out what the deal was.

"Hey, need some help?" Lorelai asked as she approached Luke, who had dropped a grocery bag on the ground and had begun to reach down towards it.

"Yeah, can you just…" Luke said gesturing to the bag, "And…" Luke said gesturing towards the door.

Lorelai opened the door and held it open for Luke, holding the bag of…Campbell's soup, crackers, and Cheese Its in the other. Lorelai followed Luke up the stairs to his apartment, again he asked her to open the door, which she did.

"So Luke, what's all…this for?" Lorelai asked setting the bag down next to where he had put the others.

"Oh, uh, I'm expecting someone next Friday." Luke explained.

"And you bought all this now?" Lorelai asked taking a seat across from Luke at his kitchen table.

"Oh…I didn't realize…" Luke said and scoffed at himself.

"Excited are you? So who is it?" Lorelai asked, obviously curious.

"Oh, just…a friend." Luke explained, uncomfortably.

"Oh…a friend. From?" Lorelai asked, still intrigued.

"Uh…a few years ago. Just an old friend." Luke explained and smiled awkwardly.

"Oh…I see." Lorelai said, followed by an awkward silence. Obviously Luke didn't want to tell her who it was. No worries, she'd just find out from Miss Patty.

"Well I better…" Luke gestured towards the door and stood up.

"Yeah, I better go too." Lorelai said and they both left Luke's apartment, Lorelai more curious than ever as to why Luke wouldn't tell her who was coming to visit him, and Luke hoping he wouldn't have to address it again.

**XoXoXoX**

"…No! You're kidding!" Miss Patty said as she was talking to Babette outside of Luke's.

"Nope. She called 'im this morning!" Babette said quietly.

"Wow…after all these years…" Miss Patty trailed off as Lorelai approached them.

"Hi girls! Whatcha talking about?" Lorelai asked, hoping they were talking about who Luke's visitor was.

"Oh, we were just talking about Rachel." Miss Patty said gesturing with her eyes towards Luke in the diner.

"Rachel?" Lorelai asked confused.

"It's Luke's ex-girlfriend. She's comin to visit next Saturday." Babette picked up.

"Really? Ex-girlfriend…" Lorelai trailed off, surprised and obviously jealous. She didn't know why she was jealous actually, it just kind of hit her.

"You're not jealous are you sweetie?" Babette asked, catching her change in expression.

"No, why would I be jealous? I'm not jealous…" Lorelai said not very convincing.

"Oh, nothing." Miss Patty reassured and continued to talk to Babette about some other useless piece of gossip that Lorelai really didn't care about so she zoned out of the conversation and headed off towards her house. _Luke's ex-girlfriend? Coming to visit? Why? Well of course to rekindle what is left of her and Luke's flame of course, that's how women are…_ Lorelai thought to herself and continued to walk absently back to her house.

**That's the first chapter, what'd ya think? Review and tell me! I hope you didn't think too much original dialogue in the beginning, but I had to, to set up Lorelai and Luke painting. So yeah…okay well… REVIEW so I'll update. ******

**LOVE KATI.**


	2. Chapter 2

Lorelai was furious at Luke and she didn't even know why. Just something was raging inside of her and she couldn't control it. Her conscience said it was jealousy from all those built up feeling for Luke that she had for him that she hadn't let out or told anyone, not even Rory, and her common sense concurred. But her brain and sense of reality screamed that she was mad that Luke had held it from her that his ex-girlfriend was coming to visit, leading her right back to jealousy. Of course this made her even angrier because she was too prideful to ever admit that she was jealous of one of Luke's old flames, that she hadn't even met! Maybe it was just a territorial thing, this woman left, walked out and left Luke technically he was fair game, she could move in on Luke and it wouldn't be breaking the women's secret code of conduct and no one could legally call her a dirty skank whore. But she wasn't brave enough to make that move or take that risk of rejection from Luke, so she had one option. Sookie's comfort food.

"Sookie!" Lorelai bellowed as she entered the kitchen of the Independence Inn, pulling out a bar stool that was seated next to the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Mosavio, where the hell is the parsley!? You cannot withhold the parsley from me! This is a delicate balance! You can't disrupt the balance with some parsley substitute. I _need_ parsley!" Sookie ordered like a drill sergeant as she also entered the kitchen making her way over to where Lorelai was, tasting and dashing substances as she passed.

Lorelai pouted and rested her chin in her palms as Sookie approached making it clear that she was upset but was too prideful to saying anything urging Sookie to make the first move, which Sookie silently accepted.

"What is it honey?" Sookie asked as she mixed a sauce in front of Lorelai, and a new kitchen aide, Lorelai assume to be Mosavio, handed Sookie parsley and dashed it into the sauce.

"I'm having a Lorelai moment." Lorelai explained to Sookie and Sookie understood that Lorelai was having a moment that she really didn't understand what she was feeling and couldn't explain it, just that she needed comfort food.

"Comfort food coming right up! But first…" Sookie trailed off as she shoved the spoon that she had been stirring the sauce with into Lorelai's mouth.

Lorelai made a scrunched face and added, "That wasn't parsley," After she had swallowed.

"What?" Sookie took a taste of the sauce herself, "Damn it Mosavio! How many times do I have to tell you!? Parsley is the green one! This, is garlic!" Showing Mosavio the spice he had handed her.

"Oh! That makes so much sense." He approached and examined the bottle of garlic, "Sorry Sookie. It won't happen again." Mosavio said and walked away. Sookie rolled her eyes and turned back to Lorelai.

"Yeah that's what he said last time…anyways…Oh! Lorelai moment, gotcha. Okay so do you want the 'Mexican Comfort Food' or the 'Asian Comfort Food' or the 'Sweet Comfort Food'?"

"Sweet Comfort Food." Lorelai responded. Sookie knew this meant it was a guy problem but she didn't say anything since Lorelai looked like she wasn't ready to talk about it just then. Instead she just said, "Okey dokey!" And got right to work on Lorelai's comfort food.

Lorelai couldn't stop thinking about it though! As much as she tried she couldn't! _I just…I just don't understand how I could've been so wrong. I mean, I dump Max 'cause I think I have feelings for the only father figure in my kid's life and then I find out he's probably not even interested in me. Or at least he definitely won't be once miss 'thang' comes back around. He'll forget all about me. I wonder what Sookie knows about her…_ Lorelai was thinking to herself and then began to observe Sookie cooking.

"Hello? Babe? Reality check, 1, 2, 3?" Sookie snapped in front of Lorelai's face.

"Oh huh? Sorry. I was just…thinking…" Lorelai looked down at the bowl of chocolate chip ice cream and brownies that sat in front of her. "Sook?"

"Yeah?" Sookie said in a sympathetic tone, feeling an explanation for the comfort food coming up.

"You know how Luke….uh…works at the diner?" Lorelai asked dumbly not being able to think of any other way to start off the conversation.

"Uh yeaaaah…" Sookie answered dragging it out, raising one eyebrow at Lorelai. She was wondering where this was going.

"Well…has he…who's Rachel?" Lorelai asked the question she already knew but was hoping for a different answer.

"Um, well that's Luke's ex-girlfriend." Sookie explained suddenly becoming very intrigued in the color of nail polish that she had decided on that week.

"Oh…" There was an awkward silence, "What kind of ex-girlfriend?" Lorelai asked after a long pause.

"What do you mean?" Sookie asked giving Lorelei a questioning look that Lorelai knew oh so well.

"I mean, was she like a serious type of girlfriend that the town saw them being together forever or the type the town so as only a spring fling or something." Lorelai asked, knowing that Sookie was catching on.

"I would say the first choice. Why?" Sookie said as a smile crept across her face and Sookie voice changed tones.

"Just…curious." Lorelai said, obviously knowing she wasn't even about to get away with it.

"Really? More like…jealous. Is this the reason for the 'Sweet Comfort Food'?" Sookie said prying and raising one eyebrow.

"No no…not jealousy…just…" Lorelai said as her voice got louder and dramatic as she said "peaking frustration…" and her voice softened a bit as she admitted, "then we'll be at jealousy." putting her face in her hands in a sign of defeat.

"Oh honey! Finally you admit it!" Sookie said wrapping her arms around Lorelai.

"Yeah Sook but Luke will never return the feelings, especially with _Rachel_ coming into town! Ugh! I can't believe this!" Lorelai threw her hands above her head and stood up and began pacing back and forth. "You know, I had him first! I saw him first! This is just like Jenny Crimers…" Lorelai said shaking her head in disbelief.

"Who's Jenny Crimers?" Sookie asked confused.

"Second grade, Jenny Crimers was a new girl at my prep school, and I had my eye on this adorable pound puppy one day in the Hartford mall toy store but I didn't have enough money to buy it since my parents always made me buy 'useless junk' like that with my own allowance, which was practically nothing, I swear why would you want to teach a second grader the importance of money, I have no idea since they're gonna just go blow anyways but seriously, a pound puppy is _not_ useless junk anyways! It was practically royalty! Anyways, the next day I come back with more cash and it's _gone!_ Then the next day at school _she _had the pound puppy because I hadn't made my move fast enough!" Lorelai ranted without even taking a breath except maybe once or twice. She breathed deeply like she had just swam 2 miles.

Sookie stared at her wide eyed silently. Obviously she was very passionate about this. She couldn't believe how much Lorelai had been holding in, it was now obvious after Lorelai's rant. Lorelai slowly realized what she had just said and how she had spent 5 minutes ranting about Jenny Crimers in the second grade. She was so embarrassed which rarely happened.

"Lorelai…" Sookie started but didn't have time to finish since Lorelai had already walked out of the kitchen without even taking a bite of the comfort food that Sookie had prepared for her. She quickly made her wait out to the jeep and headed to Luke's. She had to do something, anything.

XoXoXoX

Luke was wiping down a table that some annoying customers had just left with no tip. _Probably lawyers…_ Luke thought and grunted when he looked around and noticed the diner now empty. He glance up at the clock, 4:30. _Rachel will be here in 1 week…after 3 years…_ Luke thought to himself but shook the other thoughts that followed and made his way behind the counter to pour out the old coffeenot even expecting another customer for another 30 minutes since it was his usual afternoon lull but was surprised when he heard the bell above the door and began the process of making another pot of coffee.

When Luke turned around he saw a very determined Lorelai, for what reason, unknown. "Lorelai?" Luke asked as he saw her face. Then the thought about the painting struck him, "Oh hey, I've been meaning to ask you, think you could come by the diner tonight to help me pick out the paint for the diner? I'm having some trouble deciding." Luke suggested as he adjusted his blue cap.

"Uh…oh sure." Lorelai said still deep in thought about what she was going to say to him. Now all the momentum she had built up to tell him before Rachel got here, it was all gone. Instead all she could do was, once again, gaze into his blue eyes from afar praying she wouldn't be caught and have the light flirtatious banter as usual._ I'll tell him later, not now._ She excused herself.

Yeah these chapters aren't as long as I had hoped but oh well. Well here's chapter 2 that I've been meaning to put up for quite awhile now! Hope you liked it. If you didn't, again you don't have to tell me! Everyone is welcome to their own opinion but at least consider the person on the other end! Thanks. Constructive critism however is welcomed. But no bashing! Thanks!

Lots uh Love!

P.s. Youtube account - SweetKaytee8792 - Check eet out!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ok so I have trouble remembering to update my stories as you can tell! Haha, I also enjoy typing "Haha" Don't mock. My laptop is also dumb and doesn't have Microsoft Word so I am forced to use Microsoft Works Word Processor which, as you know, is difficult to upload to FF so I have to like copy and past and crap and it's really annoying which really discourages me from updating, sorry. Hah. See there I go again! _Anyways!_ Yes I am planning on updating both this story _and_ Face Down tonight, I am also having trouble thinking of a way to finish She's Back But Not For Long so cut me some slack haha. Agh! Very bad habit. I hope you all enjoyed my rant. **

**A/N2: I am also working on a video specifically for Face Down as we speak and I'm reading the 7th Harry Potter book which is completely irrelevant but nonetheless…speaking of irrelevant…I am in Honors Chemistry as a sophomore and that takes up a lot of my time too…but back to what I began saying, if you go to you tube and search "SweetKaytee8792" you will see that 8 videos come up, all of which are mine. I have made Luke & Lorelai specific videos and a couple of 'just for fun' videos which all imply Luke & Lorelai _and_ Jess & Rory…I have _one_ that is Rory & Logan and that's only because it went well with the rest of the story line. In conclusion, all of you who have you tube accounts, and even if you don't, should go do that! Sorry for that 'supposed-to-be-short' rant. Hehe. Aha! I moved on to hehe! I'm improving already! Now do I get a review? Actually read the chapter first, then review, yes, that would be smart.**

"Mom!" Rory called through the house as she entered the house holding more than she should be able to carry for a girl her size, but somehow always managed. Sometimes Lorelai wondered if she was like Samson and got all the strength from her hair…but once she sat down and thought about it made absolutely no sense, like most of her 'out there' theories did. But it didn't stop there, she had gone to extent to explain her point to Luke and he had mercilessly mocked her and she had felt stupid and giddy at the same time from Luke's teasing.

"Yes daughter, whom has many biblical references?" Lorelai called from the kitchen as she flipped through another page of her 'Jane' magazine that her and Rory had been faithful subscribers to for awhile.

"Ugh!" Rory grunted as she sat the cage down on the kitchen table ungracefully, and let the backpack slide off of her shoulders and onto the floor in a loud 'thunk' as her many books collided with the hard wood floor and each other.

"I thought class pets were out?" Lorelai questioned giving the chick in the rusty cage a closer look, picking at the paint chips that had been engendered by years of obvious solitude in some sort of janitorial or supplies closet.

"You and me both," Rory stated as she plopped down in the chair opposite Lorelai and rested her chin in her palms, "and it's actually a project, my midterm to be exact."

"What's it's name!?" Lorelai asked still curiously examining the cage and chick together.

"Case Study Number 12." Rory stated emotionless without looking up from the dark spot on the table from some mysterious event of years past.

"Well isn't that adorable." Lorelai deadpanned, "Oh! He should have a name! Let's name him!" Lorelai said, slightly bouncing in her chair and patting Rory's hand that had now fallen onto the table, her left hand the only support for her chin now as she watched Lorelai sideways.

"I am not _bonding _with my midterm, but thanks." Rory said, again emotionless.

"Stanley. His name is Stanley." Lorelai stated matter-of-factly, and began talking to the chick in the cage, "Hi Stanley! I'm Lorelai, and this is the house you will be in while you're…being studied by Rory…sorry I really couldn't think of a better way to word that…" Lorelai said, all the time talking to the chick.

"It's a girl."

"Oh. Well then you're Stella. Sorry about that whole Stanley thing, nothing personal. Maybe if you waxed that mustache…" Lorelai muttered the last part as if she was talking to a real person.

"Call it whatever you want." Rory said, letting out a heavy sigh, and rubbing her forehead with her left hand.

"You're grumpy. Are you sure you're okay to house-sit tonight? You won't kill the cat…or piepon…whichever one gives you attitude first?" Lorelai tried to use her humor to lighten Rory's mood.

"Mom…" Rory warned as she rubbed her eyes with her hands.

"I'm sorry babe," Lorelai said rubbing Rory's arm comfortingly, "No really, tell mommy what happened."

"Just a long day," Rory stated and noticed that Lorelai was getting up and getting her purse, "Where are you going?"

"Oh just to Luke's to pick out paint samples." Lorelai said quietly as if she didn't want Rory to know, almost like she had something to be ashamed of.

"What's with that?" Rory questioned the way Lorelai had answered.

"Well he said he couldn't decide on what color, and obviously me, with my--"

"No, I mean the way you said it…your voice got quieter towards the end like you did something slutty…or were planning on wearing something slutty…" Rory eyed Lorelai as Lorelai turned around defensively.

"Rory! I did not do anything, nor am I planning on, doing something slutty!" Lorelai said defensively.

"Well you know, things like that aren't exactly _planned_. I mean look at me, I wasn't pl--" Rory teased.

"_Hey!_" Lorelai giggled, and slapped Rory's arm as Rory also giggled at Lorelai's face that was now a deep shade of red, "Well I'm sorry but I just don't think I can put up with this anymore, I'm going now! _Bye!_" Lorelai said slipping her coat on and slipping out the kitchen door remembering to grab her purse on the way out.

"Trojan men!" Lorelai heard Rory call from the kitchen and caused Lorelai to scoff as she kicked an inanimate tin can across the front lawn as she climbed into the driver's side of the jeep.

_I wonder if Luke_ is _a Trojan man…more like a Roman god…_

Lorelai thought to herself and blushed as she couldn't believe she had just thought about Luke like that. Giggling, she started the engine and started to Luke's.

XoXoXoX

"See, I have designed _a system._" Lorelai said, bring Luke into the middle of the diner pulling him by his mid-forearm.

"That's a first." Luke deadpanned as he allowed Lorelai to lead him, trying not to focus on her slim fingers wrapped around his flannel.

"I will choose to ignore that comment. Okay you stand here," Lorelai said and left Luke in the middle of the diner and made her way over to the first sample by the doorway that led into the storage room, bathrooms, and stairway to Luke's apartment, "Here we have the sort of 'French Bistro' kind of look."

Just as expected, Luke responded, "This isn't a French bistro." crossing his arms across his chest.

"Coulda fooled me…" Lorelai smiled and winked at Luke, causing him to blush, making her way over to the next sample, "but if you wanted something more sea-y…"

"Sea-y? Is that a word? What the hell does that mean?" Luke asked, giving her and incredulous look.

"The adjective used to describe stuff like…seaweed…seashells, ocean…stuff like that!" Lorelei 'explained' only causing Luke to shake his head and roll his eyes at her ridiculousness.

"So what do you think?" Lorelai asked, being able to tell that he was actually considering it.

"Ah…" Luke started but was interrupted by Andrew bursting into the diner taking pictures of the walls and Luke and Lorelai's surprised faces.

"Andrew, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Luke asked, standing in front of him, squaring his shoulders so that even Michael Jordan would be intimidated.

"Taylor and the historian society want pictures." Andrew explained simply.

"Because this event is so rare that you have to record it?!" Luke asked hypothetically, not expecting Andrew to answer so truthfully.

"Yes, exactly." Andrew said and began taking more pictures.

"Andrew, get out!" Luke yelled, causing Andrew to turn around like a frightened cat, and quickly scatted out of the diner.

Lorelai released a sharp breath and inhaled as she was relieved that Andrew was gone and they were alone again. Not necessarily that she _enjoyed_ being alone with Luke…actually…that was the exact reason why.

"Want some coffee?" Luke asked after a long silence, and was already half-way to the coffee maker.

"You know me so well." Lorelai said as she walked over to her familiar seat at the counter.

"The _nerve_ of Taylor and his _obnoxious_ 'historian society'!" Luke said 'historian society' in a mocking matter, just to show how annoyed he was with that group that mainly consisted of Taylor, the others could really care less, "I mean, is it really _necessary_ for them to come in here like that, all of sudden and stuff, and expect me, Luke Danes, to be _okay_ with it!? Who do they think we are!? The Romanovs!?" Luke continued to rant as he served Lorelei a fresh cup of coffee. Lorelai just stared at his eyes, she loved the way his eyes shone when he ranted like that, she loved the way his voice sounded so strong and authorized when he spoke of things so passionately.

He caught her staring at him and he only stared back. He loved the way she watched him while he ranted, and the way that she always listened, no matter if it was about politics or ducks, she always listened. He wanted a woman like that, more specifically, he wanted Lorelai. "What?" He finally asked, as her gaze continued to intensify.

"I love your rants." Lorelai said simply and smiled. She broke the stare as she realized how much closer their faces had gotten and quickly turned her attention back to the cup of black elixir before her.

"You know when the last time I painted this place?" Luke asked, knowing Lore.ai didn't know the answer.

"No, when?" Lorelai asked, sincerely interested.

"When my father was alive." Luke said, looking up to see her reaction.

"Oh, you've never mentioned your father to me." Lorelai said, letting a smile play on her lips as he opened up to her.

"Yeah…he was a great guy. That's why I kept this diner, it's also why I've never really considered painting it…he meant so much to me, it feels like this place is the last piece left of the amazing man that was my father." Luke said passionately, and looked down afraid that Lorelai would be freaked out by him opening up so much to her. He wasn't sure if that was exactly in the "Manly Code" or whatever.

"Luke…" Lorelai said, placing a hand on his in a comforting gesture, to let him know that she was there, and she was listening, "So how come you turned it into a diner?" Lorelai asked as she again realized the potential awkwardness of the situation.

"Oh, uh, well, I never really favored the hardware business." Luke said smiling up at her.

"Me neither. I'd much rather the food industry." Lorelai said, smiling at him back.

"Yeah, that and, I mean I always knew how to cook, and I guess I just assumed a diner would be more…fun." Luke added, standing up straight.

"That's a hard word for you to say!" Lorelai teased taking a sip of the hot substance in the cup that she had almost forgotten about.

"Yeah, I just always wanted to work here…just where Dad did…" Luke said holding a gaze with Lorelai again but almost instantly broke it, looking down at his feet.

"God, that's nice…to be so…connected, to your dad. I wish…I wish I would've had that." Lorelai said, thinking back about her past relationship with her parents and how she could never be able to look her parents like that, except for that time when she was ten and she had convinced her father that she wanted to go to Yale, just like him. Which, had stayed with her, until she had gotten pregnant with Rory, and almost instantly those dreams had all left her mind when Rory, that precious angel, had come into her life…and that demon Christopher had wandered off to _California_ to "find" himself, as he had put it.

"Well you have that with Rory." Luke said, noticing the sudden change in Lorelai's blue eyes, they had lost their sparkle, like something had upset her. Almost as an instinct he rubbed her arm in comfort.

"I guess so." Lorelai said and smiled up at Luke. For about the millionth time that night, Lorelai had lost count, she had been overwhelmed with the urge to just grab his flannel and pull him into her and kiss him until she couldn't breath any longer and was forced to release him to inhale.

"You know, I think there's a spot here on the wall somewhere where my dad took an order one day when he ran out of paper." Luke said, breaking the moment, once again. Lorelai, almost disappointed, let out another sharp breath as Luke pulled his hand away from her arm and began searching the counter for the mysterious order.

"Really? Where?" Lorelai asked. Intrigued, she got up from her chair and made her way to where Luke was.

"I think somewhere on the counter…" Luke said continuing to look.

Lorelai walked around the counter to where Luke was and had a seat right behind the counter, Luke noticed and took a seat right beside her. "Ah, next to the door, on the right side." Luke said pointing to the spot he was referring to. Lorelai scooted over to where Luke was pointing.

"Oh, here it is: Three hammers; Phillip-head screwdrivers…"

"And three boxes of nails in assorted sizes…" Luke finished for her.

"Oh." Lorelai said, not expecting him to have memorized it.

"I've come across it from time to time." Luke explained, feeling dumb that he sounded like some weird kid that stared at that order all day, as if it was the only memory he had of his father, which was completely wrong.

Lorelai giggled at his 'save' and Luke laughed too.

"Well I guess it is time for a spruce." Luke said as he finally looked at the building and how old and chipped the paint looked, Lorelai did the same and was reminded of the chick Rory had brought home.

"Yeah, but let's not spruce this particular spot." Lorelai said, smiling at Luke, in that comforting way that always made him get this feeling that he never had felt before when anyone else looked at him, only her. He smiled back.

"That sounds good." They shared an intimate stare, and Lorelai swore she felt his breath on her cheek, but released the thought as soon as she heard voices outside the diner, and Taylor's voice yelling through the door.

"Luke? Luke! I know you're in there!" Taylor called, Luke began to get up to get rid of them but Lorelai pulled him back to the floor and lead him over to the side of the counter so they could subtly glance around the side and see when they were gone.

"They'll go away." Lorelai insisted when Luke gave her a questioning look. The questioning look soon turned into a loving look that they had been exchanging all night, Lorelai was tired of sharing so many moments in one night, and never fulfilling them! She was fed up. She felt him leaning in and she felt herself moving closer, determined to follow through this time she ignored Taylor's calls from the front of the diner and let her lips crash into Luke's in an obviously built-up passionate kiss.

Since they had been resting on their knees and fours, which obviously wasn't a very comfortable position, Luke shifted his weight to his upper thighs and wrapped his arms around Lorelai pulling her up with him and they mutually layed back onto the floor behind the counter.

Lorelai felt Luke's tongue against her lips and she quickly granted him access and the kiss deepened. Just as Lorelai and Luke both assume, they were soon in need of air. As they breathed heavily. Luke was now on top of Lorelai and Lorelai was on the diner floor, definitely not where she had presumed to be kissing Luke, but it worked.

"What just happened?" Luke asked, his face still merely inches away from Lorelai's.

"I think…I think…No I'm positive…that we kissed." Lorelai said squinting like she seriously didn't remember…honestly she wasn't quite sure if she had hallucinated or not, maybe this was all a dream. She pinched herself just incase. "Ow." She responded.

"What did you just do?" Luke asked, Lorelai could feel his breath on her cheek and she was so happy for this moment.

"Pinched myself…"

"Why?" Luke asked, dragging it out like he always did when he was expecting some 'Lorelai' response.

"Just to make sure I wasn't dreaming." She said and smiled up at him.

"Ah jeez…" Luke groaned and then smiled back at her, "Trust me, you're not dreaming." He said and he leaned into kiss her again, deeping it. Lorelai pressed her hand to his back to hold him there, she wanted to hang onto this moment forever, besides Taylors repitive knocking, this was a pretty magnificent moment.

As they parted reluctantly once again, Lorelai noticed that she hadn't heard anything for awhile. "I think their gone…" Lorelai whispered as Luke let his breath rebound of Lorelai's ear, which was driving her mad.

She suddenly realized where she was and what she had just done, realizing, this was Luke, diner-Luke. Luke-Luke. And she was making out with him on the diner floor, and enjoying it. She suddenly got scared. "Luke it's getting late…I should go." She whispered.

"Oh, yeah." Luke said gracefully climbed off of her and pulled her up, brushing himself off and looking down in embarrassment, thinking that Lorelai was regretting what had just happened. He personally regretted the situation they had been in when it had happened, but other than that, he had been elated with the fact that it had just

Noticing this, Lorelai quickly caught his gaze, "Hey…" She said comforting and laid a hand against his cheek, "this was great, we'll talk later." She said and pulled him in to kiss her, which he was grateful for.

"Call me." She said as she exited the diner, leaving a perplexed Luke behind the counter of the diner alone with his own thoughts and recent memories that would keep him awake all night with what happened and what _could've_ happened.

So? What did ya think? Leave me a review! You know you wanna. ;) Woop!

Kati.

REMEMBER TO YOUTUBE ME DANG IT

Sweetkaytee8792

DO ITT


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I am so excited 'cause all I've been thinking about all afternoon is a) exactly what's going to happen in this chapter and b) how Harry and Hermione belong together dang it!! Okay so here's chapter…4? Yes, chapter 4. Well that's the end of my rant now. Woop. Oh, and gawlee I got a lot of YouTube subscriptions/friend requests in the past 24 hours, thank you guys for all of you who actually did what I _asked_. It's because of _you_ that I'm updating so soon…that and that I am so excited! Yay!

Lorelai, practically in a daze, walked through the unlocked front door on auto-pilot, still feeling Luke's breath in her ear, and the chills she got up her spine every time he caressed her cheek with his thumb. She could still feel the passion she felt when his lips lingered mere inches from her own as they both caught their breath.

She, still on auto-pilot walked into the kitchen and dropped her keys on the side table on the way. "Stella, girl, you won't believe what happened tonight…" Lorelai spoke to the cage as she pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge. "What's wrong Stella, finally decide that chirping _isn't _you're greatest quali--" Lorelai stopped as she finally looked at the cage closely. It was empty, no Stella in sight.

"Stella!" Lorelai called as she walked around the kitchen table, examining every inch of floor, looking for the small chick, "Stella!" Lorelai called into the Living Room as she exited the kitchen and began to pick up magazines from the table and random sweaters off the floor to check if the chick was hiding under anything. _There is no way I am going to be able to find this tiny thing by myself! But who can I call…_ Lorelai thought to herself, and only one name came to mind, _Luke!_

Lorelai quickly recovering the phone from beneath a pile of dirty socks mixed with unmentionables, that she still had to wash, she quickly thought to herself and racked her brain for Luke's number…she guessed it and after 2 rings heard the so familiar, rugged, voice of Luke Danes.

"Luke's, we're closed, but we open--" Luke began, he hated it when people called him while he was cleaning up the diner after hours. It really annoyed him.

"Luke, it's me, Lorelai." Lorelai cut him off, knowing him enough that he wouldn't be happy anybody else calling him after he was closed.

"Oh. Hey." Luke said, his tone quickly changed, and his eyes sparkled a bit. Of course, Lorelai didn't know this because she obviously couldn't see him…but she could say that hers did the same.

"Hey, could you come over?" Lorelai asked, without even actually thinking about what she was implying.

"What? Now?" Luke asked, obviously confused.

"Yes please. Rory's chick, Stella, pulled a John Giles and escaped from her cage and I don't know what to do! I mean, do I put seed on the ground? Do I make cheeping sounds? Or do I do a Lucy Ricardo and walk like a chicken so she thinks I'm her mother?" Lorelai rambled, leaving a flabbergasted Luke on the other end, "Luke!?"

"Sorry, just trying to keep up." Luke quickly reasoned, which was a lot better than the thoughts that were really running through his mind, and had been running through his mind ever since she left his presence.

"Well, can you just come over? Please?" Lorelai said frantically as she threw pillows of the couch in a desperate search to find the tiny bird.

"Uh, yeah, sure. I'll be right over." Luke said hesitantly, not sure what his intentions or priorites would be once he was alone with Lorelai in her house.

"Thanks! You're the best!" Lorelai said and hung up the phone, tossing the receiver into a chair. Quickly, she ran into the kitchen to check in there.

Luke hung up the phone once Lorelai did and sat there for a moment with the phone in one hand and leaning against the counter. _Get ahold of yourself Danes. This is just your friend, Lorelai…that you just shared a passionate moment with behind the counter…No! Priorities Danes, priorities…_

His thoughts were interrupted with the sound of the bells over the diner door, signaling someone had just entered. _Go away Kirk…_ Luke thought inside his head.

Slowly, and reluctantly Luke turned around to face the person he was ready to kick out of his diner so he could speed over to Lorelai's house. "Hey, how's it goin?" Asked the woman standing in the door frame with bags at her feet.

"Rachel…" Luke said slowly in one breath. He couldn't believe it. His first love had returned…

XoXoXoX

Lorelai was still looking for the baby chick, about half-an hour had passed and still no Luke. _Where could he be? _Lorelai thought to herself as she tore up her house even more in anxiety. Her mind was racing with different thoughts, mainly however, wast he feeling of Luke against her, his lips on her own, his breath on her ear…

She had to sit down for a moment so she could just think. Rory would be home any minute and she still hadn't found the chick. Without Luke her efforts were useless. Maybe he didn't want to come over and help her look for a stupid chick, maybe he was busy with something and wasn't able to get away but was just too nice to say that, or maybe…maybe he just didn't want to be around her…

These thoughts engulfed her. She suddenly felt rejection hit her, she knew it was true in one sense or the other. All she knew, was that he wasn't coming. Now Lorelai was angry. Not necessarily at Luke, it wasn't really his fault that he didn't want to be with her, she was the one who initiated it. That whole thing about the girl making the first move…was the stupidest thing she had ever heard of.

Lorelai had to do something, something to vent. So, in frustration, she pulled out her cell phone and called the person who had been calling her for days on end, Max Medina.

XoXoXoX

Just as Luke was about to turn off the light in the kitchen, and continue on his way to the door he heard the bells above the door jingle as he reached for the light switch. Lorelai's face came to his mind and his hopes rose. He smiled at her anticipation, and how she couldn't wait for him to get to her house.

"Just couldn't wait for me to get there? I was just about to--" Luke started smugly, but stopped mid-sentence as he walked into the diner and realized who it was.

"Rachel?" Luke asked, incredulously.

"Hey, how's it goin?" Rachel asked simply, dropping her 2 giant duffel bags on the ground. By how much stuff she had, you would have thought she was moving in.

"It's…going." Luke said, forgetting everything that he had been doing at the that moment, still in shock of the woman standing in front of him.

"Good…" Rachel said, not knowing what to say next.

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked, not meaning for it to sound so indifferent.

"Well…" Rachel laughed quietly, "I really don't know. I was just standing there in the bus station in New York and saw that there was a 7:25 bus leaving for Stars Hollow Conneticut and I had all my stuff with me since I had just gotten back in the country, on my way to Chicago, and I just…bought a ticket."

"Oh. How long are you staying?" Luke asked, again, not meaning to sound so surprised, but wasn't very successful.

"Depends I guess. Obviously by your reaction, not very long." She said, subtly smiling.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry." Luke said, suddenly realizing how rude he had been, he quickly made his way around the counter and pulled her into a loose hug. She fit right into his arms like he remembered. It made him remember the good times, and suddenly, he wanted them back.

XoXoXoX

The doorbell rang and Lorelai ran to answer it and let the person on the other side in the house and out of the cold weather. She pulled back the door and there before her stood the man she hadn't seen in two weeks, the man whose heart she had broken and out of the blue, after ignoring his messages and calls for 10 days, there he stood before her once again.

"Hurry, hurry! Come in!" Lorelai pushed him inside, but he didn't go to far before he stopped her.

"Lorelai…" he trailed off, stopping Lorelai from pushing him further in the house.

"What? What is it?" Lorelai asked quickly, he barely caught what she said since she said it so fast.

"You didn't return my calls or messages, why didn't you call me back?" Max asked. Lorelai knew this was coming but she didn't expect him to spew it out the second he stepped in the door.

Lorelai was silent and she bit her lower lip as tears filled her eyes and threatened to spill over if she didn't do something fast. She saw the hurt written across his face, it might as well have been written in block letters in black permanent marker, it wouldn't have been more obvious than it was right then.

"Max…" Lorelai covered her mouth with her hand and turned her back to him, she didn't want him to see her cry over this since it was her fault in the first place.

"Hey…" Max said and put his large smooth hands on her arms and gently turned her towards him. She obligied and was face to face with him now. Tears had already fell down her cheeks delicately and Max gently wiped them away.

"I'm so sorry. I never mean't to hurt you…" Lorelai knew exactly how he had felt after she had done that to him since she felt it merely half-an hour ago with Luke, when he never showed up. And it felt horrible. She couldn't believe that she had ever hurt him as bad as his face said she had.

"That's all I wanted to hear." he said, and kissed her cheek daintily, "Now what did you say about a chicken?"

Lorelai smiled and the only thoughts of Luke she had were ones of resintment and anger. Now she would make him mad right back by rubbing her and Max in his face as much as possible. A million plots of revenge ran through her mind in that moment but she pushed them to the side for now as she searched for Stella.

Please please don't hate me! I'm sorry! I know I know, no one likes gentle Max or nice Rachel, because no one wants to have a reason to like them but…life's unfair sometimes…unfortunately. Well, review!! Thanks!!

kati


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Gosh, I'm just getting worse and worse at this whole "let's update our stories" thing! Well I'm really excited, and I know half of you could care less, but I'm getting the complete series of Gilmore girls for Christmas! Yay! How do I know this you might ask? Well…my mom just isn't very sneaky. Let's put it that way. ******** but anyways! Yes yes yes. I'm so excited. However, I'm sure most of you probably already have in your homes as we speak and are working on disk 23. Lucky! Haha. For now I'll stick to abcfamily as sad and tiny doses as it may be, it keeps me in my Gilmore happy world. Haha. Okay so, I hear some of you didn't like my last chapter?! What!? Nah, to be honest, it kind of killed me to write it but it plays into the MAIN STORY LINE so don't think it's just ya know, in there for kicks and giggles, I'm not that mean…but I'm definitely not damn Marry Poppins either…okay enough ranting, on with the story! And "FINALLY!" they said together!**

**Chapter FiVE**

About an hour after Rachel arrived Luke realized that he had completely forgotten about Lorelai and how she had asked him to come over and help her look for a "baby chick". He wasn't exactly sure there was actually a baby chick, or if Lorelai was just saying that to get him to come over. Knowing Lorelai, it was the second, but he didn't let himself get too cocky with the thought.

He excused himself from Rachel as soon as he remembered, just in case Lorelai was waiting for him. He assumed she wasn't, but had probably definitely missed him since he had said he'd be right over.

"Rachel, I've, uh, got to go out for a bit, I'll be back in about half an hour. Make yourself at home, you remember where everything is, and don't worry, there's plenty of food obviously so eat if you're hungry." Luke said, as he excused himself from the apartment, but not before Rachel had the chance to question him on where he was going…

"Okay, thanks, but, where are you going at 11:30?" Rachel inquired, giving him a funny look.

"Oh, uh, a friend, called…earlier…and I completely forgot…" Luke said, looking at his shoes, praying she wouldn't pry any deeper than that.

"A friend?" Rachel asked, looking taken aback at the way he had said _friend _like he wasn't sure what to call it.

"Yeah, you wouldn't know her." Luke said, glancing up to see her face, she wasn't showing jealousy or resentment in anyway however.

"Her eh?" Rachel said in a teasing way, to cover up her jealousy that a female "friend" had called Luke late at night to come over. She could only think of a few reasons of why that would be…and they weren't all innocent…

"Yeah. Well…I'll be back." Luke said, ending the questioning.

Rachel just sat down awkwardly on the couch looking around the apartment. _Luke has a…female friend? _She took in the surrounding of the apartment, _Everything looks the same…I guess I just never pictured Luke with another woman…besides me of course…_ Rachel thought to herself as she let out a deep sigh, now feeling like she shouldn't be in a "taken" man's apartment.

**XoXoXoX**

Luke approached Lorelai's house mere minutes after he had left the diner, considering the short distance, and was shocked by what he saw through the window. He caught himself staring in at the couple and quickly hid himself against the cold wood of the house. He wiggled his fingers a bit in his pockets to make sure he could still feel them, he could, barely. He felt as if all the blood in his body that had been filling his veins had at one moment rushed to his face and he could feel the anger rising as he took another glance at the two in the living room of Lorelai's house, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Sure enough, there, in what the two thought was the privacy, of Lorelai's living room, stood Max Medina, holding Lorelai in his arms, kissing her passionately just as he had seen before. _God, take a breath… _was the only thought that came to Luke's mind surprisingly…well besides those of the feeling of Max's broken teeth tearing into the skin of his fist. Angrily, and enviously, even though he denied it, he stalked off back into the dark. She obviously didn't need his help anymore.

Luke had never been one who cried, never. The last time he remembered his eyes even welling up was at his father's funeral. But the ache he felt in his chest right now, it felt like his stomach had dropped to his ankles. He couldn't believe how naïve he had been, how had he thought that Lorelai would actually be sincere in something? Especially something like this, no, she would never see him that way, never. Who was he kidding? But as long as he had the coffee, she would keep coming back. However, he was afraid that that wouldn't be enough this time. When she walked in the next morning something told him things wouldn't be the same, it wouldn't be one look at her and he would have forgotten all about it. No, she had ruined that. _No more. I'm done._ He told himself as he walked on to the diner as a single tear fell down his cheek and onto his flannel. He swatted it away and entered the diner and up the stairs to find Rachel asleep on the couch. He gently covered her with a blanket and went on with his nightly activites and went to bed, but didn't sleep of course.

**XoXoXoX**

Lorelai jumped away from Max's lips causing a curious questioning look to cross Max's face as to why she had been startled. "Did you hear something?" Lorelai asked glancing around, resting her hand on Max's chest to give her a bit of space as she listened intently to the sounds of the night. She could've sworn she heard footsteps crunching leaves.

"Lorelai?" Max asked concerned as she still looked around paranoid.

"Sorry." She said after a few moments of silence and let out a breath that she realized she had been holding in as she listened, "It was nothing." She said, but didn't go back to kissing Max as he had expected. Instead she walked towards the window and watched, almost longingly, down the road that led to the middle of town.

Max approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist kissing her shoulder; she crossed her arms over her chest and tensed up at his touch. She didn't feel much like letting him be this close to her right now, but she didn't refuse him. She tried her hardest to block him out, all of her thoughts once again, returning to Luke and the kiss they had shared in the diner. She kept wishing that it was he whose arms now held her. But instead it was Max, the man who meant a lot to her, but she couldn't admit to herself that she loved him…because deep down…she knew she didn't. As much as she wanted to, she just couldn't.

"Max…" She said after Max's hands began traveling south and Lorelai started to feel uncomfortable since she was still thinking about Luke and didn't want to do that to Max right now. She wasn't that heartless.

"Hmm?" He replied quietly and continued his earlier actions, not considering the tone she had used when she had said his name.

"Max." She said, this time firmly and wiggled a bit out of his grip.

"What?" He asked, finally getting the message and loosening his grip from her waist but not completely.

"I'm really tired, and I would really just like to go to bed now. I'm sorry, but we can talk tomorrow." Lorelai said and stepped out of his embrace and away from the window with her back to him.

"Lorelai, what's the matter?" Max asked taking a step in her direction but stopped abrubtly when Lorelai turned around to face him but didn't move any closer to him.

"I just really think it would best if you left now. Rory should be home soon, and I'm going to bed." Lorelai said with an indifferent look on her face. She quickly kissed him on the cheek and led him to the front door. Max approached slowly, a bit confused about what had happened and where he had lost her at.

"Lorelai…" Max started but Lorelai stopped him.

"Goodnight…Max." Lorelai said and stared at her feet, not holding eye contact for too long.

"Goodnight." Max said, giving up and just accepting that she was tired even though he knew that wasn't what was up, what more could he do?

Lorelai closed the door behind him and leaned against the wood of the door. She just stood there for a long time until she heard the crunching of gravel under car tires and the hum of the engine speeding off down the street towards Hartford. When she couldn't hear the car anymore she released a breath again she didn't realized she was holding and let herself slide down the door. She sat with her knees to her chest and her face against her knees as she let the tears fall, the tears of confusion and complete misunderstanding. She had no idea.

Her original plan had been to use Max to get back at Luke for deciding he didn't want to be with her, well, at least that's what she assumed he had decided by his neglect to at least call and say he wouldn't be able to come. She had wanted to rub Max in Luke's face but soon realized that the only thing that would cause would be heartache for all of them ultimately. She wanted Luke, but he didn't want her. She knew she shouldn't have fallen so easily or have trusted him so easily with that power to break her heart. She had learned to never trust anyone with that, even those whom she thought would never in a million years, use it against her or take advantage of it…even the father of her own child. She just couldn't trust anyone with that kind of power because so far no one had proven to her anyone deserved it.

"Mom! I can't find Cinnamon!" Rory shouted as she entered the house searching for her mother, "Mom!? Are you here!?"

"I'm here!" Lorelai called as she quickly got up and brushed herself off, including the few stray tears the had slipped down her cheeks.

"Mom—" Rory started as she entered the entryway but then noticed the look on Lorelai's face, "Have you been crying?" Rory asked concerned.

"No, just these damn allergies." Lorelai fibbed through a smile.

"Oh, okay." Rory didn't buy it, but didn't pry if her mom didn't want to talk about it. The stood there in silence since both minds were in two totally different places.

"So, what did you say about Nutmeg?" Lorelai asked, barely recalling anything Rory had said as she entered the house.

"Come on." Rory said smiling, as she pulled Lorelai into her arm and walked back over to Babette's house, offering her mother silent sympathy which Lorelai accepted grateful for her daughter's willingness to just leave the topic alone for tonight.

**Okay so that was just chapter five. There are many more chapters in the making, just wait my friends! I know, I'm not updating as fast as everyone would like, including myself, but I've been having lots of homework lately so please say you'll forgive me? Oh and I've uploaded like four more videos to my youtube account, maybe more, since my last chapter so you should totally check those out. Again, youtube me at SweetKaytee8792, just search that and all my videos should come up. Thanks: ) **

**Please Review! Thanks again!**

**Kati**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I got one review for that last chapter. Depressing. In fact, I'm so depressed that I'm not posting a friendly message. Hmph. By the way, thank you Sophie for the review!!!**

**Chapter Six**

The next day, Lorelai woke up craving coffee like she had never had it before in her life. She quickly got out of bed as fast as she could and got dressed for work. She didn't even bother making her own coffee knowing that it would taste so much better if she just went straight to Luke's ASAP.

She was finally ready 30 minutes later, having taken the shortest shower of her life, made her way out the front door and was finally on her way to her destination.

Half way to Luke's she realized what had happened last night. It all hit her all at once as if due to coffee withdrawals her reactions had been mightily effected, or maybe it was just because she hadn't been able to properly wake up yet. Either way, she just knew that last night had not been the best night. However, she had realized this a bit too late as she hadn't stopped walking towards Luke's as this revelation hit her, again most likely due to lack of caffeine, because now she was standing in front of Luke's diner staring in through the glass door at none other than Luke himself.

He still hadn't noticed her so she could still get away easily without being seen, but something kept her glued to the spot since she didn't move or even fidget a bit. Just stood there staring at his blue baseball cap perched perfectly on his head as always. She admired his chest muscles that she could now see through the flannel since she was actually paying attention, not that she hadn't before, but now she actually had a reason to.

Suddenly a look came across Luke's face as he twitched a bit but didn't look up from the ticket he was still ringing up. _Oh, thank God. _Lorelai thought to herself in relief. As if hearing her thoughts, he looked up at the exact moment and made direct eye contact with her. She felt blinded by the blue in his eyes that she could see from where she was standing. You could've called her Bambi due to her deer-in-the-headlights reaction.

They held eachother's gaze for another few seconds until something distracted Luke from behind the mysterious curtain the Lorelai had never crossed except to go to the bathroom. Lorelai quickly looked down suddenly embarrassed. She decided to go ahead and go inside since it wasn't like she could just turn around and go home, he had seen her. If she left now, he would know why and things would on become more awkward between them. She needed her coffee, not matter what she had to suffer to get it.

Lorelai entered the diner simultaneously with the bells ringing overhead. Looking around at the packed diner, glad to see it since it would mean less 'alone' time would be left to Luke and herself to talk about what happened last night. The longer she put it off, the better. But due to the overflowing residents inside the diner, Lorelai decided to just take a spot at the counter this morning, she was alone anyways since Rory had left early for Hartford that morning for another college fair.

"Hey." Luke said gruffly, and not nearly as friendly as usually, as he sat a mug down clumsily in front of Lorelai and poured coffee in it.

After putting the coffee pot back on the burner, not giving Lorelai a moment to even get in a simple "Hello" he walked behind the curtain and Lorelai heard heavy steps thudding so she assumed he had gone upstairs to his apartment.

"Well hi, yeah my morning's alright," Lorelai spoke to herself and then took a sip of the coffee, "This coffee's great by the way."

Kirk noticed Lorelai and gave her a funny look and moved down a stool away from her, continuing to give her awkward glances and guard his food as to protect it from germs. Lorelai just rolled her eyes and continued drinking her coffee wondering why Luke had acted the way he did. It wasn't like _he _had a reason, but God knows she did.

Luke returned minutes later, not even offering her a side glance, as he picked up the next order up and took it to the respective table.

"Luke." Lorelai said as he came back around the counter doing different busy tasks, ignoring her.

"Luke." She said a bit louder and firmer. He continued scuffling around as he was before, not bothered by her any more.

"Luke!" She said as loud as she could manage to bring about. The whole diner who had been buzzing mere seconds before suddenly went silent. Luke stopped and turned around slowly to face Lorelai, giving her an incredulous look as to say "What the hell are you thinking?" with his eyes.

The diner gradually returned to it's earlier state as Lorelai and Luke had a glaring contest at the counter. Kirk, who had earlier had his back turned towards Lorelai, was now subtly turning to face forward and watch them out of the corner of his eye.

"Lorelai?" Luke stated, trying to get her to say what she wanted to say without being tacky.

"Um… can we talk? Somewhere, more, private?" Lorelai asked, gesturing towards the curtain.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Luke said, almost reluctantly, taking the rag he had been holding and placing it on the counter. "Caesar I'll be right back." Luke called into the kitchen and gestured for Lorelai to follow him, which she did.

Lorelai followed Luke behind the curtain and into, what she assumed to be, the storage room since it's walls were stacked to the ceiling with condiments, pickles, napkins, etc.

"So?" Luke said, crossing his arms over his chest, waiting to hear what Lorelai had to say.

"So…last night…" Lorelai said, talking more about how they kissed behind the counter, rather than how he didn't show when she had called him, trying to ease into that with something that wouldn't start the conversation off badly.

"Last night…um, some things came up. Sorry." Luke said looking down and fiddling with his hands.

"I was talking about…" Lorelai said gesturing behind the counter, "But I was definitely going to bring that up." She finished, referencing what he had just brought up.

"Oh. Yeah. You know, it was a mistake, we both know we were just caught up in the moment, nothing special. Don't even worry about it." Luke said, brushing it off. However, Lorelai was incredulous. She couldn't believe how he was taking this! She wanted to be mad, she wanted to cry, she wanted to slap him, but she knew if she did any of these things he would know this was not as light to her as it was to him and he might get freaked out.

"Oh, yeah. Right." Lorelai said, just trying her hardest to stop all the emotions she was feeling to burst through her ears and splatter the walls behind her.

So, I'm glad that's settled." Luke said, forcing a smile and making his way back into the diner.

Lorelai stood her ground, not even turning around. She thought he would at least get that her words meant nothing, she thought he knew her better than that. Apparently not.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked, noticing that she wasn't following him.

She turned around and face him, her eyes red from the anticipation of tears, but she didn't acknowledge them. "Lorelai?" He asked again, this time more concerned, taking a step in her direction. Again she was glued to the spot. She wanted to run, run forever, away from him and never come back. She was so torn up that she had given up her independence for this guy and he was just blowing it off like it was nothing? Who did he think he was?!

As all these thoughts ran through her mind, she hadn't realized that Luke had embraced her in his arms in a tight hug. She just laid her head on his shoulder, enjoying the way his arms felt around her body, even if it was in pity, in this moment she didn't care. She just didn't some substance, something that was there for her to hold onto, even if it was the one who hurt her in the first place.

"Uh, Luke?" Lorelai thought she had said the words but realized it hadn't been her, and instead had come from the doorway of the storage room. Luke let go of the hug and with Lorelai, turned towards the doorway.

"Uh…Rachel. You're up." Luke said, taking a side-ways glance at Lorelai.

"Rachel?" Lorelai asked in general, "Your Rachel?" Lorelai whispered towards Luke, "Your Rachel?" Lorelai asked louder in Rachel's direction.

"Yeah, uh, hi. I'm Rachel." She said, taking a step in Lorelai's direction, rolling up the flannel sleeve she wore to shake her hand.

"Hi." Lorelai gave Luke a small awkward smile towards Luke and raised her eyebrows in revelation as to why he hadn't come last night. She shook her hand in response politely, not neglecting to notice that she was wearing Luke's shirt, understanding the secret message that that sent that said _Hey! We had sex!_

"Well, I was just leaving." Lorelai said trying to step around Rachel.

"Oh, please, don't leave because of me! I was just going to get more coffee." Rachel explained, pointing towards the coffee cans on the far wall behind Luke who was still staring at his shoes as if they had suddenly turned into ducks.

"Oh, I'm not, I just have to be at work like, 10 minutes ago." Lorelai laughed and Rachel smiled at her joke.

"Well if you insist!" Rachel said, stepping out of her way completely, "Bye!" Rachel called as Lorelai walked away. Lorelai turned around and walked backwards a few steps and offered a small wave to them both and left.

_Rachel huh… She is an El McPhearson kind of pretty…_

**Short, I know. But one review kati doesn't really feel like updating so this is all ya get! Haha just kidding. Actually it's merely the fact that…I'm really sleepy and want to post something tonight so here ya go. Well goodnight: )**

**Kati**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay guys. So I know every chapter I thoroughly apologize for taking so long to update, and once again, I'm sorry. Well I got the complete series of Gilmore girls for Christmas… and I'm very very ecstatic about it! I'm so addicted. Well here's the chapter now. Not much to say today.**

**Chapter Six**

Two days had past since Lorelai had had her encounter with Rachel in the diner along with Luke, and let's just say, she had been visiting Fran at Weston's bakery much more frequently than she was used to lately. In fact, after the two days she had started going there, she already had a usual. Sure, the coffee wasn't as great, and neither was the company, but it was sufficient for now. However, it was a small town, and she hadn't been able to avoid Luke completely like she had wished. She ran into him once in Doose's, twice walking down the street, however she had strategically switched to the other side each time before he had the chance to notice her, and they had shared a glance at a town meeting.

Besides that, Lorelai was a total Jack Frost when it came to Luke, nipping at the nose and all. Obviously this didn't go unnoticed by the town, or Luke. Sookie had taken an undeniable interest in the affair and everytime Lorelai walked into the kitchen, Sookie would pry for information, but Lorelai would subtly change the subject she knew Sookie would rather talk about, like the plumpness of that month's strawberries, and Sookie would completely forget about Luke and Lorelai which greatly please Lorelai. Finally Sookie caught on however and it no longer worked for Lorelai to do this.

"Lorelai. What's wrong?" Sookie asked, deeply concerned, setting her hand on Lorelai's coffee mug to stop her from using it as an excuse not to answer.

Lorelai set her coffee mug completely down on the counter and braced her arms on the counter as she stared down into her coffee mug, giving the air a much more serious tone that before. "Well… Sookie…"

"Yeah?" Sookie added, encouraging her to go on.

"My…" Lorelai looked at Sookie for support, and Sookie nodded in sympathy, telling her to continue, "my toaster is broken and so I've been eating cold poptarts for the past week."

Right after the word toaster Sookie threw her hands in the air in defeat and shook her head back and forth. She couldn't believe she had actually fallen for Lorelai's little trick. "Lorelai, really! I can tell something is bothering you! You haven't been to Luke's in days and you _never _skip Luke's! Just tell me what's _wrong _honey!" Sookie said, finally fed up with all of Lorelai's beating around the bush and keeping to herself. Sookie was tired of being polite about it, it was time for Lorelai to get over it and open up.

Lorelai let out a deep sigh, and gave Sookie a serious look, different from the one before. Sookie could tell because her eyes got a darker shade of blue than usual. "Sookie… I kissed Luke. Well, he kissed me, but I kissed him back." Lorelai said quietly, but quickly hushed Sookie's inevitable cheers as she continued, "But…"

"But?" Sookie asked, as her eyes widened and her bottom lip pouted out, now having a vague idea about what was going on.

"He doesn't want me Sookie. He wants her. He wants Rachel." Lorelai said standing back up straight, and messing with her fingernails with new interest.

"What? That's crazy!" Sookie said comfortingly, "Why would he want Rachel when he's been waiting _four years _to be with you!? He wouldn't give it all up just because of her!" Sookie placed her hand on Lorelai's arm in a comforting gesture.

Lorelai gave a half-smile, "She was wearing his flannel Sookie." Lorelai said this like it held all the meaning in the world, and tears brimmed the lids of her eyes. She widened them to stop the tears from falling but a couple escaped despite her efforts.

"Oh honey…come here." Sookie said, rounding the kitchen island between them to give Lorelai a comforting hug. Lorelai patted at her eyes with a Kleenex she had in her pocket, but now that those couple had fell she couldn't stop the water works and was now full on sobbing into Sookie's hair. As Sookie shooed the kitchen workers out of the kitchen so they wouldn't see Lorelai like this, Lorelai continued to rant.

"I mean, it's not like if she wouldn't have come back, he'd still want me! What was I thinking? What was _he _thinking by kissing me? I mean, I go home, I call him, in need of _help _to find Rory's baby chick, and I call him. I call him, and ask him to come over, and what does he do? He blows me off! So instead, I call Max, stupid, I know. I figured that out after he kept kissing me and the only person's lips I could feel on mine, were Luke's! It's not fair you know! He just came totally out of nowhere, leaving me _completely defenseless!_ Ugh. Look at me. This is pathetic." Lorelai said, leaving the hug, and walking towards the other end of the kitchen island trying to gather herself together again.

"Lorelai…it's going to be okay." Sookie said, patting Lorelai's shoulder.

"Yeah…I just wish that were easier to believe this time around." Lorelai said as tears continued to fall but she didn't wipe them, it felt good to just let them fall. She needed to let them fall, and leave their sticky, salty tear trails. Because this was the last time she would cry over him, she was going to make sure every tear that was devoted to him got shed now and not later.

**XoXoXoX**

2 hours later, Sookie was cooking in the kitchen, as usual, and going about her daily business. Right now, her and her kitchen staff were working on the lunch dish and Sookie was yelling orders, and sometimes receiving them back. The phone rang at a very inconvenient time, as she was balancing a battered chicken breast on her arm along with stirring a peach sauce, so she called for Jugo to answer the phone for her.

However, Jugo brought the phone directly to her, and what she was guessing was Spanish, told her that it was for her. She shoved the chicken breast at him telling him to put it somewhere while she talked on the phone for a moment.

"Hello?" Sookie asked into the phone.

"Hello, Sookie? This is Emily Gilmore." Emily Gilmore said, in her proper tone.

"Hi Mrs. Gilmore. How are you?" Sookie asked, as she tried her hardest to go about her kitchen duties while talking on the phone at the same time.

"I'm well, and you?"

"Pretty good…" Sookie said, reaching for the nutmeg across the counter, almost knocking over 2 other dishes in the process.

"Good, well the reason I am calling is about Lorelai." Emily said, cutting right to the chase.

"Oh, what about her?" Sookie asked, suddenly stopping what she was doing, seeing as that if she didn't focus completely on what she was saying she might accidentally drop a ling that would make Lorelai angry at her forever and ever.

"Well, you know the man who brought ice to Rory's birthday party? The man with the diner? Duke, or Leonard, or something or other?" Emily inquired.

"Yes, you mean Luke?" Sookie added, seeing that this conversation was going down a different path than she had thought.

"Yes, Luke, I was wondering if you could just tell me, if he and my daughter are seeing each other." Sookie started to speak, but Emily stopped her, "I know you think I'm prying, but I'm not. I would've called Rory but I know that Lorelai and Rory's bond is inbreakable and that if Lorelai didn't want me to know, Rory wouldn't tell me. And since I have given up all hope of my daughter ever having open communication with me, I am forced to have this conversation with one of her friends."

Sookie paused for a moment as she considered all that Mrs. Gilmore had said. "But why? I mean why do you want to know?"

"Well besides the fact that, it would just be nice to know if my daughter is in a relationship or not, I won two plane tickets to France and I know that Rory can't go, because the tickets are for April, right before midterms, and I and Mr. Gilmore will also not be able to attend, so I was going to surprise Lorelai and, possibly, her "special friend" even though I think that the rustic look he is going for is a bit tacky, I want to make my daughter happy." Emily explained sincerely. This made a very mischievous idea arise in Sookie's head…

"Oh, I see. Well in that case, yes. Lorelai and Luke are seeing each other and I think that is a wonderful idea! But they having been seeing each other long, so she really just might've not had the chance to tell you yet. I mean, I just found out!" Sookie lied, but it was for a good casue! She told herself.

"Ah, I see. Well then, I'll continue to make the reservations." Emily said, her spirit being a bit uplifted that Lorelai had also just now told Sookie.

"Good." Sookie said, quite satisfied with herself.

"Oh, and Sookie?" Emily asked before she said her salutations.

"Yes, Mrs. Gilmore?"

"Don't tell Lorelai, I would just love for this to be a surprise." Emily explained.

"Of course Emily. I wouldn't dream of it." Sookie said, "Goodbye Mrs. Gilmore."

"Goodbye." Emily said as she hung up the phone, content with the thing that she was able to do for Lorelai. Maybe now Lorelai would see that she actually did care about her life, and really did just want for her to be happy in the long run. And if this was the man that Lorelai chose to be happy with, well, then so be it. She consoled herself.

Sookie couldn't believe what she had just done, Lorelai would kill her once she found out, but maybe she wouldn't have to know it was she who was behind this…Lorelai would never reject the trip…would she? She had to think this through and make it fool-proof so that there was no way that either Luke or Lorelai could back out.

**So, how'd you like it? Let me know. I promise, the chapters will start getting a lot better beyond this point because we finally hit a point that I can build off of! Woo! Well, leave me reviews and tell me what you thought. Thanks!**

**Kati**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm ALIVE! I know right? Crazy. It's like… Stephen King's return to horror. Well I'm glad to be back and glad to have a giant vat of coffee at my side for whenever I decide… "Eh, I don't like where this is going," solution: drink vat of coffee quickly while ignoring the rapturing of taste buds and skin cells along the way.**

**Chapter Seven**

For the past three days Sookie had answered every one of Emily's phone calls about the travel arrangements, being very cautious in keeping it an absolute secret from Lorelai. This had turned out to be quite more successful than any other secret Sookie had tried to keep from her best friend in her entire life; including the instance when Sookie had decided to not serve anything "meatless" and disguised pork chops as burnt celery sticks with a rabbit sauce.

This rang ever true on this particular morning due to Sookie's extreme difficulty in balancing a full kitchen staff serving a very large Foot Fetish Anonymous meeting—who would've thunk it?—an out of the ordinarily talkative Lorelai, and Emily's most important phone call to Sookie thus far, which would confirm the separate flights that had to be arranged due to "Luke and Lorelai's quite inconvenient work schedules."

"So Sookie, do you think Room Number Five deserves a coffee maker? I mean really. If the guests that often stay in 'Room Number Five'," Lorelai said, using air quotes to emphasize the audacity of those guests, "aren't going to take full advantage of their caffeine privileges, I mean why not give their coffee maker to someone more needy?"

"Like who, someone who drinks coffee, on average, seven times a day to suit her 'caffeine needs'?" Sookie asked mockingly in a breathy tone as she shuffled through the chaos as Lorelai followed, dodging flying cutlery.

"Exactly! I am so glad that I have someone else who understands my point! I mean, come on, seriously." Lorelai said, as if she was running a political campaign.

The phone rang in the background, but neither Sookie nor Lorelai noticed as Sookie's assistant chief, Renaldo, answered it with his thick Colombian accent.

"Lorelai, you can not have the coffee maker from Room Number Five just because you think it would be 'totally wicked' to have two coffee makers," Sookie said, holding Lorelai's hand as she was about to interrupt her with another absurd argument, "Even if one is for your office here at the inn."

Sookie couldn't help but laugh at Lorelai's little bits. It didn't really matter if Lorelai was serious or not, it was still damn hilarious.

"Sookie. It's Em—" Renaldo held out the phone to Sookie, and Sookie interrupted him just in time as the realization struck her who was on the other end.

"Thanks Renaldo! I'll take it from here!" Sookie said, grabbing the phone and rudely pushing the foreign man away.

"Who is it Sook? Everybody knows not to bother you around 11:30 because that's when I'm at my coffee rush and the dining room is always full of starving paying customers but I take up all your time with my needless rambling because _you _are really the only person who—" Lorelai babbled obnoxiously but luckily, Sookie saw the signs and stopped her just as she was gaining speed.

"Honey!" Sookie exclaimed loudly to get Lorelai's attention, which she did, "It's about your birthday. Please," and she pointed to the kitchen's swinging door, implying for Lorelai to allow Sookie and her secret phone caller some privacy.

"But my birthday isn't for two months, 17 days, four hours, and…" Lorelai began to rock her head back and forth while looking at the ceiling, counting under her breath, "47 minutes."

"Lorelai." Sookie gave her a stern look, which instantly reminded her of Luke so she dropped the argument and submitted.

"Fine…but be sure to insist on a vat of coffee eight feet high that people stick their faces under like at the Olympics except like—" Lorelai, again, began to babble but was interrupted once more.

"Lorelai!" Sookie yelled, making everyone in the kitchen pause what they were doing to stare at Sookie and Lorelai.

"Fine. I'm just gonna go, ya know," Lorelai pointed her thumb back towards the door to the dining room, "chill with my homies, who truly care…"

Sookie took a deep breath, relieved she had finally gotten that babbling crazy woman out of her kitchen. Immediately, however, the tightness in her chest returned as she realized the peerless woman at the other end of the phone cord…

"Hello Emily! It's so nice to hear from you!" Sookie greeted the woman eagerly.

"Good morning Sookie. It's nice to speak with you again. I must insist, however," Sookie knew it was coming, it always does, "that you and your kitchen staff invest in hold. It is a wonderful invention the prevents the second party on the telephone to not be forced to submit to the needless verbal exchanges of the members of the first party on, in this case, your end of the phone."

"My deepest apologies Mrs. Gilmore. I will definitely look into that, thank you so much for the suggestion." Sookie said, a bit annoyed but after observation of Lorelai's interactions with her mother, she herself had adapted her own way of dealing with Emily…submit.

"Excellent," Emily Gilmore said, with a much lighter tone, "Now, back to my business of this call."

"Of course." Sookie agreed, grabbing a pen and note pad with The Independence Inn's trademark and information because she knew that Emily would give a "mini-quiz" at the end of their conversation; which she had discovered during her first phone call with Emily when she had, needless to say, failed miserably Emily's "exam" and had to listen to Ms. Van-uppity for the next hour repeating her information, as if to a five year-old.

"It was quite unfortunate Luke and Lorelai's schedule which you relayed to me, making it a bit more tricky to arrange the flights, but it has been done. It is set that Lorelai's plane will leave JFK airport in New York City at 5:47 a.m. on Feburary 27 and Luke's plane will depart also from JFK airport, except his will leave at 12:54 p.m. on the same date. Do you suspect that this will be appropriate?" Emily relayed the information as Sookie scribble furiously.

"Hmm," Sookie looked over the information closely, thinking of every excuse either could come up with and finally decided, "Yes, that should be perfect."

**XoXoXoX**

Lorelai sat in her office uselessly tapping her pen on her desk to the beat of "We Got the Beat" by the Go-Go's every now and then breaking out into a major solo making guests who meandered by her office to pause briefly and watch the show until Lorelai realized they were standing there. Then she would stop suddenly in mid down-beat and blush deep red, apologize for her "little show" and go about her business once again.

"Lorelai!" Sookie rushed into the office, scaring Lorelai.

"AGH! SOOKIE!" Lorelai screamed and threw her pen in the air and grabbing Sookie by the shoulders as Sookie embraced her likewise.

"You'll never believe what just happened!" Sookie screamed into Lorelai's face as they began jumping up and down.

"If I guess right do I win a new car?!" Lorelai yelled giddily back, "Oh, or wait! Is that what has happened!? Did I win a new car? Is Oprah in the dining room!?"

"Okay, you killed it." Sookie ended her giddy façade and released Lorelai's shoulders.

"Oh come on now sour-puss, what is it? What is so ultra-fabulous you had to rush in here and nearly make me have a heart-attack?" Lorelai asked, genuinely curious, but also teasing Sookie at her tendency to overreact.

"Well… It really is fantastic and you're going to be extremely angry at yourself for wasting this much time of me not telling you and us celebrating." Sookie said, quietly pretending to be angry at Lorelai for teasing her.

"Sookie… come on please tell me. I really wanna know and am fully prepared to cut myself if necessary." Lorelai said, easily convincing Sookie to relinquish the information.

"Ok," Sookie said with a giant grin on her face, "Well, KTVL was just having a contest on the radio and it was one of those things where they play the song backwards and you have to be the first person to call in and say what tune it was. At first I wasn't exactly sure, I mean I thought it was what it was but I wasn't completely sure so I called Jackson first and had him listen too—"

"Sookie, honey, I know I'm one to talk but you're babbling." Lorelai interrupted.

"Anyways, I called in, guessed "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2—" Sookie continued, but was once again interrupted.

"Of course! How could anyone miss that!?" Lorelai added.

"—And I won one, all expenses paid, trip to France!" Sookie finished, saying the last few words through her giant grin again.

"Oh my God Sookie, that's wonderful! But I have one question, why just one ticket?" Lorelai asked, genuinely happy for Sookie, but also thinking to herself how much she would love to be able to get away from this God-forsaken town by herself for a few days.

"It's KTVL." Sookie answered like everyone should know that.

"Well, I'm really excited for you." Lorelai congratulated her dear friend, trying to press down the monster of jealousy that rose once again in her stomach, "What did Jackson say?"

"He said he was really happy for me too, but…" Sookie suddenly got this look across her face like she was afraid to tell Lorelai something.

"What is it Sook?" Lorelai asked, immediately concerned with Sookie's change of spirit.

"I can't go." Sookie finished, "It's a long story, and I really don't want to babble again today, so I'm giving the ticket to you."

"Sookie! But why? I mean I know you don't want to babble, but not even a gist?" Lorelai asked, curious as to what on Earth could stop Sookie from taking this trip.

"Eh, Jackson, fruit, strawberries crossed with tomatoes, huge Techno Geek convention next week, I just can't." Sookie explained

"And after that very cryptic explanation…onto my next question, why me?" Lorelai asked, going through ways to have Michel cover for her at work while she was gone, and who Rory would stay with, and just how much she would enjoy being able to get away from the inn, Michel, Max, Rachel…Luke…

"Because you are my best friend, and I understand you are stressed right now and I think you deserve something nice for yourself." Sookie answered honestly.

"Sook. You really are my best friend aren't you?" Lorelai hugged Sookie close.

"When does the plane leave?" Lorelai asked Sookie, suddenly very interested in the details.

"Feburary 27 at 5:47 a.m." Sookie answered, as if the information was burned into her brain…or written in red ink on her arm.

"Sook, that's the day after tomorrow." Lorelai concluded with a stunned look on her face.

"Hmm…that sounds about right." Sookie answered lightly.

Lorelai rushed out of the room in a flash, "Where are you going?!" Sookie called after her.

"I've got to pack…and shop!" Lorelai called back as she grabbed her coat and purse from the coat rack by the door.

"Your welcome!" Sookie called again, but Lorelai was already half-way to her jeep starting the engine.

"One down, one to-go." Sookie said to herself, in the now empty office and skipped off chanting "Lorelai's going to France, Lorelai's going to France." Arousing the same curious looks from the guests that Lorelai had received…except Sookie could careless because she had a grumpy diner owner to convince now.

**XoXoXoX**

**I hope you enjoyed it! I also hope you missed me! I also hope you will review, to encourage me to keep going and to not allow my muse to escape me! AGH! :]**


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